NBC's First Read reports tonight on "Second Clinton Plant"

Second Clinton plant
Saturday, November 10, 2007 5:52 PM
by Domenico Montanaro

From NBC/NJ's Athena Jones

DES MOINES, IA, Nov. 10 -- Geoffrey Mitchell told NBC/NJ in a telephone interview that a Clinton campaign staffer approached him at an event in Fort Madison, Iowa, to suggest he ask a question about the senator standing up to President Bush on Iraq war funding at an event.

Mitchell, a 32-year-old minister, said he was not and had never been a Clinton supporter and stressed that he had moved to Illinois since the April 2nd event and, so, could not participate in the caucuses. He said being asked to ask a certain question was not the way things were supposed to go.

"It's just not in the tradition of the Iowa caucuses,” Mitchell said. “They need to be answering the questions of the people going to the polls.”

The Clinton campaign's Mo Elleithee said earlier in the day that Mitchell and the staffer, Chris Hayler, were acquaintances.

"They knew each other and bumped into each other at the event,” Elleithee had said. “During the course of their conversation, the topic of Iraq came up. Our staffer suggested he ask a question. That's all.”

Mitchell disputes Elleithee’s account. "That is incorrect,” Mitchell said. “I did not know him. I met him that day.”

We reported earlier today that the Clinton campaign admitted to asking a student to ask a specific question at an event on Tuesday.

http://firstread.msnbc.msn.com/archive/2007/11/10/460034.aspx